Everglow
by hellomegs
Summary: Cloud, a lonely college student. Aerith, the local flowergirl just trying to make it through life. They happen to meet on a metro and from then on, things will never be the same again. [ AU CxA]


AN: Hi everyone! My first CloudxAerith fic! I know I'm really going to enjoy writing this one, but I must tell you that I may not update regularly due to a hectic life. Please be patient for the new chapters to come!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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**Everglow**

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Quiet and very serene was what Cloud Strife had noticed about that one morning. It was as if the world itself had been shut off just for him to enjoy. Although this seemed almost to perfect to be true, it was hardly the truth at all. He could hear the birds chirping from the old oak tree, the small hum of cars zooming by on the street just outside of his apartment and the quiet but hearable chatter of people as they walked along the sidewalk. It was more like the day was very different, although Cloud couldn't understand why.

The blonde haired young adult rubbed his callused hands over his face, getting rid of the mumbo-jumbo thoughts he was thinking of at seven in the morning. He had no idea where all that came from, so instead of staying on that certain subject of randomness, he pushed back his soft dark blue covers and swung his feet over the side of the bed. He flinched slightly at the contact of the cold wooden floor, but got over quickly as he made his way towards the bathroom to freshen up and get ready for classes.

As he turned on the sink, Cloud looked at his reflection in the mirror. As usual, his hair flared out in different places, giving him the image of a crazy person. He laughed thoughtfully and bent down to splash a little cold water on his face to get rid of his morning tiredness. He clenched his eyelids once the ice water touched his cheeks and he couldn't help but turn away. He turned the faucet off and dried his hands and face with the small hand towel hanging by the door. He remembered that he took a shower last night, so there was no need to take another one. Maybe by doing this, he wouldn't be so late to the metro station.

Cloud headed back into his small bedroom and wondered thoughtfully of what his day's attire would consist of. Digging through his drawers, he settled on a pair of dark denim jeans along with a plain black shirt. He pulled each item on, almost falling over when he tried to attempt to pull his pants on with one leg in the air. Cursing under his breath, he zipped up his pants and headed back into the bathroom once again to try and tame his unruly blonde hair. He wet his hands a little before running his fingers through his hair. He squeezed a fair amount of gel into his palm and styled his hair to his preference and finished his bathroom time with a quick look in the mirror before heading off to grab his belongings.

The wall clock read 7:45 just as Cloud closed his apartment door, pulling his messenger bag over his shoulder and stepping down 2 flights of stairs. He was very thankful the station was only a few blocks away, otherwise he'd be running instead of taking a leisurely walk every morning. There were quite a few times he _was_ late, but that was because he slept in despite the fact that his alarm clock always woke him up at the right time.

He reached the bottom floor of the lobby and quickly walked out, the instance of bright sunlight causing him to shade his eyes with his hand.

"Good morning, Cloud!" a young girl quickly ran to catch up with Cloud, her face holding a large smile. Cloud looked down and gave the girl a small smile of his own. "Good morning, Marlene. Are you going to school now?" The two of them reached the corner of a street and Marlene answered politely, "Yes! My bus stop is right here, want to wait with me?" Cloud gave her a sympathetic smile and replied, " I'm sorry, I have to get to the station in less then 15 minutes. Please tell your dad I said hello, by the way." The two of them said their goodbyes and they departed. Cloud smiled in his mind at the image of Marlene. She was a good kid and Cloud was thankful someone had adopted her, especially someone as protective as Barret.

Wait.

Cloud had to rethink that. It wouldn't be too great once Marlene grew up and had a few guys trailing after her. He could only imagine what Barret might say, even do to those poor guys.

Cloud chuckled at the thought and soon reached the station. Crowds of people were around, either getting off the metro or getting on. The cerulean eyed boy checked the large clock by the ticket booth and sighed. He made it with time to spare. He then shuffled into a group of passengers boarding the metro, and took his place standing by the doors.

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A glittering sun peeked out over the roof buildings in the early rising town of Midgar. Light seeped through windows, through tree branches and around corners, shining right on a girl with long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She hummed quietly to herself as she bent over a crowd of lilacs and tulips, watering each collection of vibrant flowers set out on display. It was about seven in the morning when she finally finished watering the multicolored blossoms, each and every one of them sparkling from water drops settled onto their petals.

"Aerith, dear, you better hurry and get ready for classes soon. It's already going on seven o' clock."

Looking away from the flowers, Aerith smiled at Elmyra, the flower shop owner. "Well, it's a good thing I finished in time then," she said, giggling. Reaching behind her back, she untied her apron and folded it neatly before handing it over to her boss and very close friend. "I'll be back this afternoon, please don't wait up for me," Aerith called out, already crossing the street towards her small apartment.

Elmyra chuckled to herself, already heading back into her small corner flower shop.

Aerith closed her front door softly and padded into her bathroom. She smelled heavily of soil and wet dirt, all from rearranging the flowers and putting them into pots. Turning on the shower, she then stripped out of her garments and stepped into the awaiting shower. Streams of warm water poured down and Aerith happily accepted the chance to be clean once again. Her shoulders were slightly sore from lifting too many bags of soil and the water beating into her sore muscles felt heavenly.

Although she wanted to stay in the comfort of her shower a little longer, the brown-haired girl estimated that the warm water would soon run out. She quickly popped open the cap of her shampoo and poured into the palm of her hand, then scrubbing her long locks with it. She rinsed it out and finished up her shower by doing a good scrub down to get rid of all thee dirt and grime that had accumulated all over her from earlier that morning.

Aerith stepped out of the shower quite quickly, snatching her towel off the rack and wrapped it around her petite body. She had a gut feeling she was running late, and sure enough, she was. The clock on her wall 7:32 and the metro left precisely at 8. Aerith ran into her room almost slipping on her discarded clothes she had left on the floor. She mumbled a bit about 'stupid clothes' before grabbing the crème colored dress with white lace trimming which sat on her bed.

In lightning speed, she managed to put on her undergarments, rub on lotion, put a dab of makeup on and was finally pulling on her dress. She strained to closed up the zipper on her back, and when she finally managed to pull it up, she dashed back into her bathroom to attempt to blow-dry her hair. Aerith had no idea how she achieved it, but she was able to get her hair into a slight damp state. But by then the clock read that she had 20 minutes to get to the station which was 11 blocks away. The flower girl groaned and slipped into a pair of pastel pink flats and grabbed her bag and keys off the kitchen table. She gave her small apartment a quick look-over to see if she forgot anything, decided 'no', and rushed out quickly, slamming the door behind her.

Aerith jogged along the sidewalk, occasionally saying _excuse me _to people that were in her way that she had to dodge to get by. She could feel a few stares on her but she ignored them, knowing that she'd probably never see them again in her life, so there was no point to care. All that mattered at that point was getting onto that cursed metro on time. If she didn't she'd have no way to get to the school. She could've taken a cab, but that would cost too much money, something Aerith scarcely had at that point.

Aerith caught sight of something brown waving around, getting into her face. She gasped at the sudden realization and her hands shot behind her head, gripping her long brown hair which was _untied_. 'Nooo..' she muttered, holding her hair in one hand and pulling out her ribbon from her bag with the other. She couldn't believe she forgot to tie back her hair. Now it was going to get all weird on her, maybe even frizz up. Horror struck Aerith's face and she hastily tied her hair back into a ponytail, knowing that attempting to make a braid was impossible when she was on the run.

"Eep!" a small voice squeaked when Aerith collided with something. She stumbled but caught her balance. She quickly turned around and sincerely apologized. " I am so sorry, are you all right?" She asked, concerned eyes staring at the young girl who was readjusting her book bag. "Don't worry, I'm fine," She said with a reassuring smile. Aerith smiled back and patted the girl's head before taking off down the sidewalk again.

Aerith was practically panting at this point, but the station soon came into view. A few singles were still climbing onboard, the intercom then coming on the note that the train would soon depart. Relief filled her faced once she saw the metro's door's still open, but she spoke too soon. They started to slowly close and Aerith was practically sprinting onto the train. The closing doors barely nipped her fluttering skirt, the brown haired girl pulling it close to her legs and giving a huge sigh of relief. She made it. But soon noticed just how crammed the cart was.


End file.
